Annoyed, Val pulled his hand away from Jason and started to leave, but Jason was right; he was overheating and sweating profusely. Just a step forward, and Val's vision suddenly went dark. A cold wave washed over him, starting from his feet and rising to his head.
Jason's eyes widened as he saw Val collapse like a dried leaf falling from a tree. "Val!"
Jason caught Val just before he hit the pavement. "Val," the young man looked at him with glazed eyes, still trying to pull away from Jason's grasp.
"B-Boss" Val's eyes slowly became blurry and shut to the darkness; he couldn't hold it up anymore. Jason was startled when he felt how cold Val's hand was.
"You were so hot just now. Why is it so cold now?" It wasn't just his hand; Val's face was cold, too. His head lolled, and he lost consciousness after trying to stay strong. "Val!"
Jason patted Val's cheeks, trying to wake him. He slid his hands under Val's legs and lifted him.
"Clean up and get back to the office. I'm taking Val to the hospital!" Jason yelled, rushing to his car with Val in his arms. Everyone watched, stunned by his panic. He threw open the car door, placed Val in the passenger seat, and jumped into the driver's seat.
"That kid…" Anwar and Alex remained frozen where they stood. It all happened so fast.
"I told you what would happen if the boss got mad. I'm blaming you," Anwar said, glancing at Alex.
Alex's eyes widened. "Why me? Val wanted to do it. Could you stop him?"
….
Jason sped to the central hospital. He leaped out of the car, which he had parked in front of the ICU.
"Val!" He rushed to the passenger side, scooped Val into his arms, and carried him inside with ease.
"Doc!" he yelled, panicked. Val's face was as pale as a ghost, and his whole body was so cold.
After the initial panic and near-fainting spell from worry, Jason finally sat down on a bench outside the ICU, trying to calm himself. His hands trembled, his legs jittery as he fretted over how long they were taking. He tried to compose himself, but his hands still shook, his heart pounding. He nearly jumped when the ICU door opened. A doctor stood before him.
Jason frowned. He recognized him. Quite well.
"Rio? You? What are you doing here?" he asked, looking into the ICU where he could see Val lying unconscious on a bed.
Rio closed the door behind him, looking just as bewildered as Jason.
"Jason Garber, what are you doing here? Did you the one who bring Valiant in?" he asked.
Jason nodded, pointing into the room behind Rio. "Yeah, I am. How is he? I-is he alright?"
Rio looked at Jason for a moment, took a deep breath, and shoved both hands into his robe pockets.
"What happened? Why is he this bad? Didn't you know how his condition was?" he asked.
"Uh, he got overheated working in the sun, but then… suddenly he got really cold, freezing cold. He wasn't responding to me, uh…" Jason stared at Rio, furrowing his brow.
"What do you mean, I didn't know how his condition was? Is Val alright? He's just dehydrated, right?"
Rio looked sharply at Jason. "His body temperature spiked drastically and then plummeted just as quickly. What do you think happened? In this condition, Val could get pneumonia. You shouldn't have let him stay in the sun so long. A little later, and he could have slipped into a coma," said Rio, loud and clear.
Jason stammered, panicked by Val's condition and now confused.
"What do you mean? What condition?" he asked.
Rio glared at Jason, clenched his fist, and turned towards the ICU room. "Val will be here for a few days."
Jason stuttered, about to ask another question, but Rio had already gone inside and closed the door right in his face. "Hey, Rio!"
Hours after.
The atmosphere in the private room was quiet. Val had been moved to a private room because his condition had stabilized, allowing Jason to stay with him. For a long time, Jason just sat beside his bed, looking at Val's peaceful face, which still hadn't shown any signs of waking up. Several wires were attached to his chest and waist. They even had an IV line in a major artery near his neck. This wasn't a simple illness, and Val seemed used to it, judging by the several needle marks on his body.
Rio said, Val would be sleeping all night, so it would be useless for Jason to wait for him; he wouldn't wake up that night. But Jason didn't care; he wouldn't be able to do anything if he went home and left Val alone there. He reached for Val's cold hand, though not as cold as this morning, holding it with his two wide palms, trying to warm it.
"Hey, Val, is there anything you want to tell me?"
A moment ago, outside the room.
Rio looked at Jason sharply, as if blaming him.
"You don't know anything about his condition? He's been sick all this time, and you didn't see anything strange about him; you guys live in the same apartment!"
Jason threw his hand up, pushing back the hair that had fallen across his forehead. He didn't know what to say; seeing Val from outside the ICU room was enough to make him unable to think clearly.
"He didn't say anything at all. Rio, is his condition so bad?"
Rio stared at Jason sharply, holding back from saying anything, though he really wanted to; he clenched his fists.
"Val doesn't even want to tell you everything, let alone me. Just ask him directly. What's certain is, I won't let him bear all of this alone, you hear that, if you can't, I will be there for him."
Jason held Val's fingers tightly, resting his chin on his hand, looking at Val's pale face for a long while. He could clearly hear Val's very calm breathing with his chest rising and falling regularly. At that moment, he looked very fragile, different from the Val he had known all this time. Although Jason already had many suspicions as to why Val seemed to avoid him all this time, he apparently was hiding it from him, whatever it was.
Jason raised his hand, tidying Val's hair behind his ear. But he was stunned; instead of tidying it, he seemed to pull the hair loose, with so much hair falling out into his hand. He looked at the strands of hair for a long time; suddenly, his heart ached so much, he wanted to scream and cry, but he didn't have that much courage.
"Hey, Val, what happened?"
***
Morning came. Jason sat all night and fell asleep on the long couch not far from the bed. He moved Val to a VIP ward so he could accompany him more freely inside and sleep comfortably there. Val opened his eyes, slowly letting the sunlight hit his opal-colored eyes. He blinked a few times after adjusting to the light, which wasn't very bright, just dazzling enough. He turned his head, finding someone sitting asleep on the couch, who immediately seemed to know he had opened his eyes and quickly got up from his spot to approach him.
"Hey, are you awake?"
Val held his breath for a moment. His boss, what was he doing there? With him in the hospital, did he already know?
"Boss."
Jason smiled. He quickly approached and took Val's hand.
"Are you alright? How do you feel, better?" he asked.
Val pulled his hand away, avoiding his boss's touch.